This was a good week, I managed to take a big chunk out of day 3. It was a more ideal situation than the week before, which I think had a large effect. Day 2 is actually starting to feel too easy, so I think I will slow it down and add weight on pull-ups and switch to single limb movements for the other two, and probably reduce sets and reps to make it more of a true strength-oriented workout. It will be interesting to see how this effects day 3. Anyway, this weekend is when my Warrior Dash is, so this will be my week where we are supposed to drop some levels for rest. Its really hard for me to stop when I'm this close to the next level!

I competed in a Warrior Dash this last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. I can say that none of the obstacles in that race should be a challenge for anybody who has been doing SF on a regular basis. It was actually kind of easy to be honest. The fun part was blowing by people who didnt have such an easy time on the obstacles. That being said, I didnt get the opportunity to really put in the pace I could have cause I was running with a friend, and he wasnt as prepared. If I worked harder on my running, I think I could actually be competitive. I am interested in doing the same type event again, but I will be looking for more of a challenge next time (in obstacles, not running. I hate running). So I am thinking about doing a Spartan or a Conquer the Gauntlet, and I am almost for sure going to do an Alpha Warrior event. Their motto is "no mud, no miles" because its all obstacles all the way through, and a lot more upper body.

The last couple weeks I've been off SF because of travel and such, but I've been keeping up with some other conditioning drills and greasing the groove. Hopefully it wont hurt me too bad when I get back to this next week. I admit, I almost talked myself into changing programs, but I love this system so much. So I think I'm going to compromise. I feel that I need to work my lower back and shoulder more, so I think i'm going to add a couple moves in at the end of my workout. I just want to be a little better rounded. I might, just might also slightly modify day 2 to be more strength focused, but I dont know. Any thoughts?

I don't think which program is as important choosing one that you will do. Simple Fit works for me because I can do it at home and it is not complicated. I used Stronglifts and liked it until I had some problems with my MS effecting me doing Overhead press. Almost dropped a Loaded barbell on my head.

Yes I'm still here! Had a good week of workouts last week. As noted, I was off for a couple weeks, but I was still active with other workouts and stuff. I was a little worried about falling back but it wasnt too bad. In fact, I made some improvements on all days but judgement day!

Level 6 D1:29 Rounds

All time best for me, regardless of level, so I was very pleased.

D2: I switched this up a little bit. I was experimenting so it was un timed. I've been feeling that day two was getting too easy, so I added 20 lbs of ankle weights for my pullups, and could still do them. They did get really tough on the last set though. I tried to use bands over my shoulders on the pushups, but they kept sliding off so I gave up on that. I think next week I will do a lower volume of one armed pushups. I had the ability to do three sets of 12 before I started this program (good strength, bad endurance). I dont know what I can do now.

D3: 5:16.

I lost 10 seconds here. I achieved a brand new max on pullups though: 21! Yes, I am in the 20+ club thanks to SF. However, I couldnt put together more than 2 at a time after that, and then my push-ups fell back during the time off, so that was it. All and all Im still very happy. I believe I will stick to SF with a modified day 2, thats my plan.

I decided it wasnt in my best interest to max out on pull ups like I had been doing, so this is how it broke down:

Pull-ups: 15-10-5-2Push-ups: 40-12-12Squats: 64

I didnt post previously about day 2, but I did change it up. As I did the week before, I did pull-ups with 20lbs of ankle weights. On push-ups, I did 5 sets of 5 one armed push-ups on each side, finishing one side before doing the other, and then did an additional 15 regular push-ups on my last set. On squats, I held a 25lb weight plate. Those adjustments worked pretty good I thought, and will hopefully work strength just a bit more. I think I'm going to do one more week on level 6 to get day 2 dialed in so I can make the most accurate adjustments moving forward. I dont know what I'll do with it yet, I may even try more strength based (less sets and reps, more weight). We'll see.

So the last couple weeks, I decided to go back and see how my strength was holding up considering I see this as more endurance focused. It was holding up well, Still able to do all the more difficult moves I could before, and adding on other things we dont do in SF like dips and inverted rows and shoulder work. So with that, I begin level 7.

Level 7, Day 119 Rounds

I took it pretty easy on this, just trying to ease into level 7. I admit, it was tough. To me, it was much harder to do sustained sets of 4 pull ups than 3, and its a jump from level6 (level 5 and 6 are both 3 pull ups). So I found myself really struggling to complete the pullups. Oh well, I'm glad to accept the new challenge, and acknowledge that this level could take a very long time. We'll see what happens!

Thanks for the encouragement KTG. The last couple weeks have been a little slow on the workout side, I got distracted by a bathroom re-model that took up a lot of time. So last week I went back to make sure I could still pass level 6, and I did. So this week so far I've done day 1 & 2.

Level 7, day 1:24 rounds

Level 7, day 2: Completed, un-timed.

Day 1 was a solid improvement, I was very happy with that. Its really a butt kicker though. Still, I'm getting through it. +5 since last time. This was also my second time on day 2. Thus far I have not timed my working time. This is for two reasons. 1: I'm finding day two to be very tough. I am getting through it, but it takes all of me. I dont think I should push the speed until I have the numbers under control. And 2: I'm not sure about timing day 2 anyway. If day 2 is strength day, I feel like form should be the focus. I know that form is always important, but for myself, pushing to go faster, faster, faster interferes with that. You can only go so fast without using momentum. Day 3 on Sunday, woohoo!

I keep trying to quit and do a different workout program, but I keep coming back. This week I did level 7 day 3 for the first time, and it kicked my butt.

Level 7 Day 37:40

Ouch! What stinks is that you can do the majority of the work in a timely manner, but when you're done, you're done! The last 5 reps might take a minute and a half. Thats just how it is. I'll be here for a while, but its all good.